When we stopped at Rachael’s house a few weeks ago during our trip to Limerick, I couldn’t help but take photos to show you. Rachael and her boyfriend, Anthony, are just at the end of renovating an old row house in Limerick. It’s beautiful, filled with light, and made me wonder how I’d ever have the vision for space and details that they did! They’ve also done an incredible job of preserving the look and feel of an old house while incorporating bright, modern elements.

They’re still finishing odds and ends and are just starting the decorating process, but it’s mostly finished.

But here’s my disclaimer – I’m no interiors photographer and I found it a little hard to capture the full scope of each room. So use your imagination!

Editor’s update: Click here to see the before version of this room! It’s wild!

Rachael came up with the idea to move the upstairs fireplace downstairs, since the downstairs one was a lot less attractive. I love that she moved around what she had to make it work in the space. She also mentioned she had to fight with the builders to get them to agree to it – but she stuck to her guns because she knew it would work!

Rachael and Anthony bought the house with all the contents (can you imagine how fun that would be?!), and the unit in the left photo came along with it. It’s an old record player box thingy – Rachael has plans to turn it into an entertainment center.

The kitchen might be my favorite part of the house – they renovated and included lots of exposed stone and added that see-through fireplace. It’s so cozy to have a fire there when you’re eating dinner!

The tile in the entryway is all original – the tiles were left over from a church!

That mirror armoire came with the house as well!

All the doors use these cool skeleton keys and most of the rooms have original fireplaces that still work!

Rachael and Anthony renovated the attic and added this spiral staircase to the third floor. It makes the house bright and airy.

The view from the third floor stairs.

And of course, the third floor bedroom has exposed beams and stone. And a skylight that’s great fun for looking out over the neighbors’ back gardens!

You might see a little more of Rachael and Anthony’s house in the future. We’re working on a project for the walls of Rachael’s writing study. I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks, Rachael and Anthony, for letting us peek inside your house!

Happy Thursday, friends! Can you even believe how fast this week has flown?

I’m excited to share a little Truly Irish love with you this morning. Caroline from Bibliocook introduced me (via the wonderful world of Twitter) to the lovely blog This is Álainn a few weeks ago. I immediately had to tell Kim how much I loved the concept – a blog that showcases beautiful Irish products and designers. A whole blog, just for that!

{Álainn means beautiful in Irish!}

I immediately read through every post and found so many incredibly cool Irish products. Which was totally the point. When I asked Kim about the impetus behind her blog, she said she started it last Christmas when she got fed up with the standard “Irish” Christmas presents we see every year. She wanted to show off the great Irish products that often go under the radar.

Well, they’re all on our radar now! I thought I’d share a few of Kim’s finds that I never would have found without her!

The Informal Florist

Claire Ryan, the Informal Florist, does beautiful things with flowers. I’m pretty sure I wish we were friends.

Magic Forest Handmade Toys

Handmade in Limerick by Joanna. Aren’t these bunnies just the sweetest? They’d make a lovely new baby gift!

Lolo and Lulu

Argentinian and Irish at the same time – Lolo and Lulu’s accessories are made in Dublin! That is a serious color/chevron combo.

But those are just a few of the great finds over on This is Álainn. Stop by and have a peek at Kim’s beautiful Irish finds!

In an effort to change the world’s perception of Ireland, I’ll be posting weekly about fabulous Irish artists, designers, makers, crafters and creatives in a series called Truly Irish. I’m taking tips and suggestions – send an email to emily (at) fromchinavillage (dot) com if you know of someone I should feature!

At the end of next week, my sister and I are going on a little sister adventure to Venice, Florence and Verona. We’ve never been to Italy before and we’ve done just about zero planning. Oh, and I’m working every day until we leave! Ahh! I’m not panicking yet, but I’m close.

Help me out – do you have any tips for Venice, Florence or Verona? I’d really appreciate the insider scoop! We’re spending one night in Venice, two in Florence and one in Verona. We’re loosely planning to travel by train between the cities. Good idea? Terrible idea? I’m envisioning a few hours watching the countryside of Italy flash by. Am I making that up?!

I’m dying to know, what’s your not-to-be-missed list?

Thanks!

Verona//Florence//Venice

I think this post could alternatively be called “How I got duped into spending two nights a week in a smelly boxing club in Drimnagh.”

or

“How I ate wayyyyy too many M&M’s and decided any excuse for exercise was a good idea.”

Either way, I appear to be taking part in a fundraiser that involves boxing. Michael came home a few weeks ago all wound up that he was going to get to learn to box. Then he heard they needed alternates, especially girls, and he got it in his head that I should do it.

I thought that was a downright terrible idea until I ate way too many M&M’s (due to this project), at which point my judgement was entirely clouded by chocolate and sugar and I relented.

Apparently, 30  nutty adults train for eight weeks with this Olympic boxing coach, then box each other (only three rounds!) in front of 500-1,000 of their closest friends. They’re raising money to help a teacher in their school (where Michael coaches) who has a child who needs surgery – the teacher had twins, one was healthy and one hasn’t left the ICU yet. So it is a great cause, and actually a fairly cool thing that the school community is coming together to help out.

I’m still thinking I’m going to sneak out the back door when the actual hitting part starts, but for these first few weeks it appears to be a lot of skipping rope, push ups and hitting punching bags. Great exercise altogether!

I thought this shot was fun – we can’t wear our wedding rings during the training and it’s so strange to have them off!